Japan's Otsuka to Buy U.S. Cancer Drug Maker Astex for $886 Million

By

Kana Inagaki

Updated Sept. 5, 2013 8:03 a.m. ET

TOKYO—Otsuka Holdings Co. said it would acquire U.S. cancer-drug maker Astex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $886 million, as the Japanese drug and food maker looks to beef up its product pipeline ahead of the patent expiration of its blockbuster antipsychotic drug Abilify.

The move by Japan's fourth-biggest drug maker by pharmaceutical sales is the latest in a flurry of acquisitions carried out in the sector as companies globally...